Chapter 260: A Stone Tablet

The owner of the Ninth Ruins was a generous old man, or at least, that was what Tang Ling thought.

The puppets were given as a gift. They might not have outstanding offensive capabilities, but their strong resistance to attacks was astonishing.

One thing worth noting was that every weapon Tang Ling had was grade B alloy. With a full swing of his grade B alloy dagger, all he made was a little scratch on the puppet which did not affect its movement at all. Conclusively, the puppet was somewhat scarier than a zombie.

With his Precise Instinct, Tang Ling calculated that if he really wanted to destroy the puppet completely with his grade B alloy dagger, provided that the dagger did not break halfway, he would at least need 5 minutes.

The numbers were terrifying.

Firstly, the grade B alloy dagger ought to be damaged in the process of attacking the puppet. Plus, Ro Li could control the puppet, so it would not just stand there and withstand all the attacks. Therefore, should a real fight break out, factoring all the circumstances and given Tang Ling’s current level of power, he would need at least 15 minutes to completely destroy a puppet.

If all the puppets ganged up on him at once, he would be no match for them.

After processing all the numbers and astonishing factors, Tang Ling concluded that the old man was really generous for presenting them with a dozen puppets which were more powerful than a whole platoon of elite warriors of the Hope Barrier, no, a platoon of 300 fully armed elite warriors according to Safety Sector No. 17’s standards.

“We finally can heave a breath of relief!” Ro Xin opened the door at the end of the corridor.

Blinding sunlight shone in and behind the door was the backyard of the house. Strangely, the door on the second floor, which supposedly led to the balcony, opened to the backyard instead.

The three of them stood in the center of the backyard. After they successfully deciphered the second formation, they were granted access to most of the Ninth Ruins.

“Brother, is it tedious for you to control the puppets?”

“No at all,” Ro Li answered delightedly.

Ro Xin rolled her eyes at her brother. Tang Ling, on the other hand, felt that Ro Li should be proud of himself because when Ro Yan had mentioned Ro Li’s talent, it had been difficult for him to picture what kind of talent Ro Li possessed.

Was it the sixth sense? A different kind of spirit? Or could it be his soul power? Judging from the situation, it should be his soul power, but it had to work on top of the theory whereby humans possessed souls.

The talent that Tang Feng looked highly upon was indeed something extraordinary.

“Ro Li, how does it feel when controlling the puppets?” Tang Ling could not hold back his urge to ask since he might be able to find some clues about Ro Li’s talent.

“Hmm, it’s like there are a dozen more of myself. Do you understand what I mean?” Ro Li did not stinge on the truth as he told Tang Ling the most straightforward feeling he experienced.

Isn’t that great? Clones! Clones that can withstand a beating! Tang Ling was a little jealous. He felt that this big idiot’s strength had suddenly surged and might be even more powerful than his.

“Then, is it hard to control a dozen at a time? What does it cost?” Tang Ling asked again. It was important for his upcoming plan, so he had to get a clear answer.

“It isn’t difficult, but I have a feeling that the maximum number that I can control is 30. Any more than that, after the first five minutes, I’ll start to feel dizzy.” Ro Li scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

His response eased Tang Ling’s jealousy a bit. If Ro Li could control the puppets without a time limit, he would be even stronger than a Purple Moon Warrior.

“If that’s the case, then let’s go with this plan next…” Tang Ling stretched his body and started to detail his next plan.

…

The two formations in the Ninth Ruins overlapped. The second one was in the center of the first. The first formation had a total of three levels of access, and deciphering any level would grant further access to the Ninth Ruins.

It had been three days since day one. Both Tang Ling and the siblings, as well as the Stardust Council, had cleared both formations.

Then, a battle broke out within the Ninth Ruins. The battle was strange because Tang Ling and the siblings did not show their faces throughout the battle. Instead, some mantled monsters took their places.

The monsters’ offensive capabilities were strong, at least, to the soldiers that Draconic Seven brought over. A punch from a puppet was worth around one to two bulls’ strength.

If its punching power was its only feature, it would not be a threat to the soldiers. The most important thing was these monsters attacked tirelessly and their resistance against their attacks was terrifyingly strong. The soldiers’ firearms could barely inflict any damage on the monsters.

Whenever the monsters got near, a dozen soldiers would be killed in a single blow. The only ones who could withstand the monsters were Draconic Seven plus several elites under him.

However, the monsters were not only strong but cunning. They never appeared in a large group but approached in several teams. They would appear on and off to disturb the council’s troops and ought to exhaust Draconic Seven and his elites.

The monsters never seemed to achieve any actual results though. Whenever they were facing a disadvantage or almost fell into the enemy’s hands, they would retreat immediately, disappearing into the alleys and corners in the town.

The guerrilla battle lasted for two and a half days, and Draconic Seven’s troops had lost more than a hundred men, yet they could not capture even one of the monsters.

Due to the frequency of the monsters’ attacks, the troops were nervous. They did not know what they were facing and were constantly scared.

“Hehe, stopped searching, eh?” Tang Ling lifted a seam in the shutters and had a peek outside as he chuckled coldly. He knew that Draconic Seven would eventually make his way through the second formation.

After the three of them got through the second formation, he immediately searched for a safe lodging point.

Tang Ling never expected the puppets to hold back Draconic Seven’s entire troops, but the guerrilla attacks effectively stopped their search and put Draconic Seven in a passive situation to the extent that he dared not expand his search in the entire town.

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Moreover, he could tell Ro Li to send the puppets to displace Colo’s team, which had zero offensive capability. Therefore, Draconic Seven’s troops had to fight the puppets while protecting Colo’s team because the normal soldiers could not hold the puppets back.

While Draconic Seven and his several elites were distracted, the normal soldiers did not dare simply walk around either. Furthermore, their morale was already at an all-time low.

Tang Ling’s tactic was effective.

On the fourth morning, Draconic Seven finally gave up searching for Tang Ling and the siblings’ whereabouts. He regrouped and occupied the office in the largest building in town and built a fortress around it.

“Do we go in and kill more of them?” Ro Li asked with excitement overflowing from his eyes. In the past two days, he had killed more than a hundred enemies with his puppets, boosting his confidence.

“There’s no need for that now. All we need to do is beat the time.” Tang Ling rubbed his swelling forehead. He then told Ro Li, “Don’t you notice that your puppets’ movements consume energy?”

There was a naked puppet left in the house. It was the lucky one that Ro Xin and Tang Ling had kept for research purposes.

On the bamboo-like body of the puppet, around its chest was a little hatch that could be opened. Inside the cover was the complex internal structure of the puppet. It was a combination of some mechanical engineering art from the old civilization and some mysterious technology. Both different technologies complemented each other and formed the puppet’s internal framework.

As for what the mysterious technology was, Tang Ling and Ro Xin could not find a name for it just yet. All they knew was that the technology consisted only of the key components and was the vital part for the puppet to move like humans. It was a crystal-like object that had a magical symbol on it and was installed around the fundamental parts near the joints.

More importantly, the puppet had a heart as well, a rhomboid one, on top of which was a small Universal Source Stone that acted as the energy source for the puppet.

After two days of battles, Tang Ling realized that the little stone had become dim. He calculated with his Precise Instinct and realized that the small stone was only able to support the puppet for 10 days of battling. The puppets were machines that needed a high consumption of resources, especially the precious Universal Source Stone.

“I can make them self-destruct. If their energy runs out, I can detonate two at once. I’ll make sure that Draconic Seven…” After controlling the puppets for two days straight, Ro Li had gained a better understanding of their functions. He clenched his fists, his eyes burning with rage when he mentioned Draconic Seen.

Tang Ling patted his shoulder and said, “If it isn’t absolutely necessary, don’t waste the puppets. You have to understand that the materials and technology these puppets are made from are terribly valuable.”

As he spoke, he walked to the naked puppet and skillfully removed its limbs from its joints. He adjusted the angles before opening the little hatch at the chest to press two little buttons inside.

The puppet’s head then shrunk into its body while four rectangular slots opened from that bamboo-like body, in which all four of its limbs could go into. After he put the limbs in, the body would further shrink.

A quick transformation later, the whole puppet shrunk into a rod that was half the height of a person and was only as thick as an arm.

The rod was tough and could be used as a weapon during critical moments. Most importantly, it was convenient to carry around and was not too heavy. Because Ro Li was a buff hunk, carrying a dozen rods should not be a problem.

Tang Ling wanted Ro Li to bring the puppets with him so that he could have a little insurance settling down at Darkness Port. Therefore, Tang Ling would never allow Ro Li to detonate two puppets to damage the enemy since it was a total waste of such a precious gift!

As for the Universal Source Stone, they should be able to find a bigger one after they deciphered the last formation. All they had to do was figure a way out to bring part of the rock with them.

With that in mind, Tang Ling turned around to Ro Xin who was still busy calculating a way to decipher the formation, something three generations of her family had failed to do. It was all up to Ro Xin alone, and time was not on her side, so the pressure on her was immense.

Thankfully, Tang Ling was by her side. He was literally a genius in formations even though he gave the credit to his talent.

Ro Xin found it difficult to understand. What did his talent have to do with formations?

“How long more?” Tang Ling squatted down to ask.

“If you can compare the last three sets of symbols, I’ll be able to find the starting point for this third and final formation, but I have a bad feeling about this.” Ro Xin looked at Tang Ling as she leaned back on the wall for a little rest. She had been calculating for a long time and it was really exhausting.

Tang Ling took the calculations over from her, then he started to compare the similarities between the last three sets of symbols. With his increased understanding of formations, he no longer had to do it the traditional way since he could add his own theory and hasten the entire process.

Ro Li lifted the shutters.

The ever-warm sunlight shone into the room. From there, they could see a large expanse of field, long, straight streets and red roofs of houses with white wooden walls, and a church in the center of a little square. It was a typical western town.

The town was still as peaceful as ever with the people still walking along the streets over and over again, making the town’s atmosphere vivid.

The troops from the Stardust Council were afraid of the townspeople though. They had been disturbed by the puppets for days now, and many of them believed that the townspeople were ghosts.

Ro Li found it funny as he leaned on the window, but snores could then be heard shortly after that.

Tang Ling wrote the result on the paper and passed it to Ro Xin. “The comparison is done. I’m certain that I can pinpoint these three starting points even though it’s difficult for me to believe the results.”

He rubbed the spot between his brows, which was swollen, and pointed at a single spot when Ro Xin unfolded the complete formation drawing.

Ro Xin widened her eyes at the spot and her smile turned bitter. “As expected, this is the worst outcome that I least hoped for.”

The spot where Tang Ling pointed at was the center of the little square in the town. The structure of the little square was simple. There were several big trees, some long benches, and a stone tablet.

The starting point was none other than that stone tablet. It looked like any square stone tablet with a sharp top, but as for what it represented, that was anyone’s guess.

However, the simpler the starting point looked, the stranger it felt and was more difficult to decipher. It had no path or obvious direction, and most importantly, the place where they had to go decipher the third formation would bring them face-to-face with the Stardust Council. There was nowhere to hide.

“What should we do?” Ro Xin looked at Tang Ling.

“Since it has all come down to this, we must decipher the third formation.” Tang Ling stood up and took a deep breath. In the past three days, after spending most of his time learning formations and related knowledge, he had given Ro Xin a good lecture, so the decision was made.

“If we have to race against time, I’ll have to be the one who deciphers it. Do you trust me?” Tang Ling looked at Ro Xin, unable to give her a detailed explanation of his Precise Instinct. However, with his talent, he might not be better than her when it came to setting up the formation although he was quicker at deciphering it.

Tang Ling did not have the heart to tell Ro Xin that he had found the starting point of the third formation a few hours ago. In order to protect her strong pride and to familiarize himself with the Ro family teaching’s notes so that he could come up with a clear method to decipher the formation, he decided to keep quiet.

“Are you confident enough?” Ro Xin asked seriously.

“Around 40%. The thing is, if I can decipher it, we’ll move on a lot faster.” Tang Ling was not in a joking mood either.

“Fine, I’ll leave it to you then.”

No one expected that the upcoming attempt to decipher the third formation would be the most difficult of them all—they would have to go up against the Stardust Council directly.